Update: UC Berkeley student exonerated of rape charge

Update, July 5, 2016: The student’s name has been removed at his request due to the finding of factual innocence.

Original story, Oct. 17, 2014: The case against a 20-year-old UC Berkeley student charged earlier this month with rape has been dismissed, authorities said Friday afternoon, and he has been found “factually innocent” of that allegation.

The student was scheduled to enter a plea in the case Friday morning.

But Teresa Drenick, Alameda County district attorney’s office spokeswoman, said Friday afternoon that the case against him was instead dismissed.

The student’s attorney, Ted W. Cassman, said shortly before 4 p.m. via email that the case was dismissed for insufficient evidence, and that the judge ruled him to be factually innocent.

The court ruled Friday morning that he “is hereby exonerated,” and that his detention by police “shall be deemed not to have occurred.”

In court Friday, deputy district attorney Joni Leventis said, according to a court transcript, that she had closely reviewed the evidence from police, and had interviewed the woman who initially reported the rape.

“I’ve had several discussions with her about those events and we’ve concluded that [name redacted] did not commit any sexual assault on September 27th, 2014. And I would add that Jane Doe is in agreement with that conclusion that we have come to,” Leventis told the judge.

Leventis also told the judge that there had been no indication that the student had been responsible in any way for the woman’s intoxication.

“There is no evidence that [name redacted] provided any drugs or gave any drugs in any manner or caused the intoxication or the level of intoxication, if you will, of Jane Doe in this case,” she said.

Cassman said via email that he appreciated the work of Leventis and the district attorney’s office “for their fair and thorough review of the case.”

He continued: “[name redacted] is innocent. The system worked. But in the meantime, he and his family suffered greatly, not only from a false charge but also from exaggerated and inaccurate press reports.”

Police arrested him at UC Berkeley’s Delta Upsilon fraternity Oct. 2. The district attorney’s office initially charged him with rape by use of drugs.

The news of the dismissal of the charge against the student came Friday amid a flurry of other reports of sexual assault released by the University of California Police Department.

In what way do you believe that blanket-accusing anyone who disagrees with you of being an “ignorant male supremacist spreading anti-female hate speech” adds to the discussion?

Do you think that making these kinds of accusations about large groups of people is beneficial in some way?

rusty

If there were not the unfairness in the system that results in the false accuser’s identity remainig secret basically forever, we would have access to all the evidence. The press
would be able to call on this accuser and ask the usual – why, when, how, who
etc, and she would be compelled to answer or be disgraced – likely both – just
like any other false accuser.

Imagine someone who accuses his neighbor, who has no criminal record, of burglarizing
his house. The matter is reported on, as here, nationwide. An astronomically
high bail is set in spite of the very very remote likelihood that the neighbor
will abscond. The neighbor has to spend tens of thousands of dollars on bail
bonds, legal fees and investigators. Then it is shown that there was
simply no evidence it ever happened and a court declares the neighbor factually
innocent, which happens almost never. Would it be proper for the press
to hide the identity of and never confront the accuser?

Understand that there is no law that compels the press or anyone else to hide or not report
the name of [name redacted] accuser. It is mere PC group-think run amok and a
gross breach of basic journalistic ethics.

The Berkelyside reporting has actually among the very best nationwide on this
story. I think the Berkeleyside editors should publically state why they
do not seek to find and interview the accuser. As I’ve said before, who
does this secrecy help? Legitimate victims of violent rape? If so, how?

John Freeman

Let me be very clear that the comments in this thread which variously accuse the woman lying, “having regrets”, and so forth — and which were willfully, stubbornly ignorant and even deliberately deceptive as to the relevant law — are pure anti-female hate speech. It is male supremecy in action. I don’t care how any of the comment makers “feel” internally. Their actions are unambiguous. Yours is no exception, “guest”.

guest

It’s odd that you’d make a comment like this suggesting that everyone who disagreed with you on this issue was making “male supremacist interpretations” given that nobody actually believes it and it’s a straw-man nonsense position you made up to
bludgeon some neighbors with.

sometimes busy people who desire a certain outcome elect to get there by the most efficient path. Given the choice between a) not filing and letting the guy go free; and b) filing, having to go to court and say, “we don’t have a case” and chalking up a losing mark for the prosecution, it’s pretty clear that a person who doesn’t spend all day, every day spinning convoluted explanations for simple problems would go with (a).

How about taking a break from the keyboard? Learn to play the bongos or some other satisfying pursuit.

John Freeman

I’m glad to know that the finding was pursuant to section 851.8 of the penal code, exactly as I was pointed out was likely. There was no presentation of evidence that positively exonerated. The DA simply did not complete the process of filing an accusation.

Interesting that on other crime articles, Berkeleyside gets criticized for irresponsible journalism on the basis of not publishing PHOTOS of people who have been arrested (not convicted). Talk about a no win situation.

guest

“John Freeman” has continued to pretend to be a legal expert despite having no education or expertise in the field. I don’t think John Freeman is qualified to make the statements he keeps making here.

Berkeley Resident

Well, if that’s the scenario then it is indeed a huge shame, for everyone involved and particularly for future victims.

John Freeman

“DefenseLawyer” has claimed to reveal the contents of privileged discussions with Jane Doe and has contradicted Quilin’s own attorney about the case. I don’t think DefenseLawyer is truthful.

re:

that sentence is simply misleading, legally.

John Freeman

I think it’s worth pointing out that you apparently claim to be an officer of the court yet you come onto Berkeleyside to allegedly, anonymously reveal privileged conversations with Jane Doe. Perhaps you are a very bad attorney? AND you do this in order to make assertions about the case that contradict Quilin’s own attorney.

guest

Tom has been playing pretend lawyer on Berkeleyside, under one name or another, as long as this site has been around.

Love Lordman

I love the way you twist logic, here, to try to convict an innocent man in the court of public opinion. Yet not so long ago you twisted logic in opposite ways to try to defend a pervert employed by BUSD who sexually harassed students.

Simple contrarianism at its finest.

John Lordlove

So Google search results are now “superstition” according to you and the accuser is blameless in the charges that were brought against this man.

How delightfully absurd.

John Freeman

I don’t think you are anywhere contradicting me. You seem to agree with me that “factual innocence” does not necessarily imply a positive finding of innocence. You seem to agree that “factual innocence” can mean nothing more than that charges were defectively filed. We agree, then, about the information contained in the news reports.

Now additionally you claim to be privy to additional, unreported information and hint that somehow positive evidence of innocence was presented. That’s interesting, if true, but material sourced to “DefenseLawyer” in Berkeleyside comments isn’t what we have been discussing until now.

Elsewhere, in another comment, you describe your alleged insider knowledge of the case by saying:

news travels fast in the legal community

This alone makes me suspicious of your claims of insider knowledge and should discredit you as a legal professional if you are one. It would be interesting to see you substantiate your claims better.

Regardless, heretofore we were talking about the actual contents of the news reports, not your rumors.

rhuberry

One of the problems I see with this kind of relationship being called rape is that it almost makes light of what I usually think of as rape — as in a violent assault type of situation. Why are so many college kids, who are mostly underage, getting so drunk they don’t know what they’re doing? And instead of taking responsibility for drinking too much (probably illegally), they decide to try to blame someone else for their behavior which they regret when they sober up. What a shame that ”feminism” has gotten to this – women as victims, men as bad and taking advantage of them. Get your drinking under control, boys and girls, and behave yourselves!! Enough of this ”rape” stuff already.

DefenseLawyer

I have no idea who Steve Shorr is, but that sentence is simply misleading, legally. You don’t get a finding of factual innocence when there is some, but not enough, evidence to “support the charge.” You get the finding when you can establish (let’s say it together!) your innocence IN FACT. That’s why it just doesn’t happen very often.

DefenseLawyer

John, you’re just wrong on this one. It’s understandable–851.8 has spawned case law precisely because it’s not perfectly clear on its face–but you are, actually, wrong. A factual finding IS exactly what you say it isn’t. It IS a positive finding about one thing that happened that night, which is that the defendant IS actually innocent IN FACT (that’s why they call it a “finding” of “factual innocence”). The motion can be made in a variety of settings. You’re misreading the section you quote (about an accusatory pleading) but it doesn’t matter, because that’s the wrong section anyway. An accusatory pleading WAS filed here — that’s the thing that was dismissed. And the finding can be made regardless of the accuser’s feelings or opinion–the DA was simply reciting that fact, in this case, to fend off accusations that the DA was selling out another “victim” (see, e.g., accusations about the Tallahassee police re: Florida State football misconduct). It’s a CYA comment.
In this case, the DA followed up on inconsistencies in the original report, and determined that no rape had occurred. Just drunken consensual sex. The very unusual 851.8 finding is, in fact, properly described as an exoneration.

DefenseLawyer

You’ve made a reasonable–but incorrect–assumption. The phrase “level of intoxication” doesn’t mean that she was too intoxicated to give consent. People have intoxicated consensual sex all the time (insert witty comment here). You’re missing another possibility, which in this case happens to be the actual situation (news travels fast in the legal community):
The young woman was intoxicated. The accused had nothing to do with her becoming intoxicated. The young woman had sex with the accused. It was CONSENSUAL, inasmuch as she actively participated in, and assisted with, the sexual acts. Afterwards, she had second thoughts and regrets. She re-thought and re-thought and re-thought what had happened, and other(s) helped her re-think. She concluded that perhaps she hadn’t really “consented,” and reported it to police. It was charged. Subsequent investigation confirmed the active participation/assistance/consent. That’s not rape, at least not currently.*
*All of this is timely, of course, because “rape” is something that is legally/socially defined. Is it “no means no”? Or “only yes means yes”? Is it consent if you don’t SAY the word yes, but you actively encourage the act? That’s the scenario put into issue here, at the same time UC Berkeley has been exploring the definition of “consent.”

DefenseLawyer

Pretty sure an Alameda County Public Defender would have been all over this, just as quickly. Now…whether the DA would return the calls as quickly, or take the time to examine the case as quickly, or jump into the re-investigation as quickly IN RESPONSE…that’s another question. DAs snap to attention for VIPs just like anyone else.

guest

Actually there is no claim that the victim told anything false to police.
I think this comment is slander.

A victim reports a crime. The police and DA accuse. Even if you are not sure who mugged you, you should report being mugged.

John Freeman

[name redacted] has exercised his main recourse by having the arrest record destroyed. Your superstition about the future impact of his name being in the news is nothing more than that. Nevertheless, in general, if police or prosecutors were reckless and did significant harm he could take civil action.

The accuser, “guest”, did not make an arrest or file charges.

You write as if oblivious to these points so, again, I surmise you are ignorant of some pretty basic civics or, as your name-of-the-moment suggests, commenting with malice.

Berkeley Resident

They are a very good (and local) law firm. It doesn’t mean the result isn’t correct.

John Freeman

Do they not teach civics anymore? The level of ignorance displayed in comments like the one quoted below is disappointing.

because false charges can be lodged against someone, dragging their name through the mud, with virtually no recourse.

John Freeman

No, “guest”, you are making up stuff when you falsely assert “in your opinion he’s probably guilty”.

I have no idea what he did or did not do. Neither do you.

guest

I suppose it might sound that way to an intensely pedantic person but most readers will be able to see that Steve is clearly referring to what he believes *should* be done in a perfect world, not what *is* currently legally correct.

Lord Dashtlove

…and because false charges can be lodged against someone, dragging their name through the mud, with virtually no recourse.

guest

So, in your opinion he’s probably guilty despite being exonerated by the court system. Probably guilty until proven innocent via trial in the Court of Tom.

Glad you’re not in any position of power.

thomas Jr.

Barry Bonds’ lawyer? Really? I wonder how much that cost.

“There’s no justice, there’s just us”.

guest

Hard to say what did or didn’t happen, but having the same lawyer as Barry Bonds in Balco may have helped.

Pretty sure a Public Defender would not have made the charge go away so fast. I wonder how much it really costs to get justice?

Not so clear as you think. When he says:
“Absolutely irresponsible journalism. The woman’s name should be published, too.”
it sounds like he means that Berkeleyside was irresponsible not to publish the woman’s name – showing that he doesn’t know the state law.

guest

from the first link:
if a charge is dismissed because the
evidence did not support the charge, or because the evidence actually
refutes the charge, then the judge will grant the finding of factual
innocence.

It seems the evidence doesn’t have to refute the charge by proving the person is innocent. It is also enough if the evidence doesn’t support the charge.

John Freeman

See section 851.8 of the CA Penal code. The DA asked for the accusation to be dismissed, triggering the “factually innocent” declaration. This tells you nothing at all about what did or did not happen that night other than it whatever happened did not generate evidence to support the initial charges.

John Freeman

The meaning of “factual innocence” in this case is not what you think. California Penal Code section 851.8 calls for the destruction of an arrest record and finding of “factual innocence” if no accusatory pleading is made in the case and the prosecutor concurs.

In this case the quotes from the DA tell us that Jane Doe agreed with the DA that there was not evidence to support the charges, leading to the DA’s dismissal request and the destruction of the arrest records.

This is not the same thing as any kind of positive finding about what happened that night, other than through the narrow lens of evidentiary standards.

the DA says that this person did not have anything to do with her intoxication.

The actual quote, with some added emphasis:

“There is no evidence that [name redacted] provided any drugs or gave any
drugs in any manner or caused the intoxication or the level of intoxication, if you will, of Jane Doe in this case,” she said.

The difference is important. In her professional capacity the DA is concerned only with an evidentiary standard. One of the reasons that acquaintance rape is an important issue is precisely because it can so easily take place without leaving evidence of a sort needed to support criminal charges.

rusty

Mr. Freeman, you continue to state and implacably restate an
untruth. The much fabled Big Lie technique. Shame on you. The court, that is the judge not the DA’s office, handed down a judgment that [name redacted] is
FACTUALLY innocent. Such a judgment is very, very rare. That’s a long way
for a finding of “evidence lacking”.

guest

She may have been raped, just not by this guy.

guest

It doesn’t show that to anyone who isn’t a pedant. Clearly Steve is talking about what he believes *should* be done in a perfect world, not what *is* currently legally correct.

guest

It is neither false nor misogynistic. Try again.

In what way does your comment change the fact that, as currently written, law in this area allows and even encourages the use of false accusations?

guest

Correct on the first count and incorrect on the second.

You clearly don’t understand what “factual innocence” means. Factual innocence does not mean that the court lacks evidence, it means that the court has declared that the suspect did not in fact commit the crime of which they have been accused.

guest

You can thank Eric Holder for this mess.

Berkeley Resident

Actually I disagree regarding what the news reports suggest. The report says that the DA says that this person did not have anything to do with her intoxication. Ergo, she was intoxicated to the point of not being able to give consent to sex. However, someone was arrested for rape. Surely there was at least evidence of a sex act before such an arrest. So you have someone so intoxicated that they can’t give consent, and evidence of a sex act. But the person arrested is freed and declared not guilty. It follows that someone out there is the true culprit. Perhaps that isn’t the case, but to say that the reports to date “do not suggest” this scenario is not correct.

John Freeman

It is false and misogynistic to assert “law in this area allows and even encourages the use of false accusations”

John Freeman

Nothing in the news reports suggests that she lied or that she identified the wrong man. The news reports so far only tell you that the man she identified should not have been charged because the evidence was lacking.

Berkeley Resident

Again, who says she is a “liar.” This man isn’t guilty of the crime, but it doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a different perpetrator. Given that the DA is talking about the “level of intoxication,” it is apparent that the woman was in fact too intoxicated to give any consent. It just sounds like they got the wrong guy.

guest

This is a matter of state law. Don’t blame the police and university.

guest

I was responding to your statement “The woman’s name should be published, too.” which seems to show some ignorance of the law.

Dash Lord

The men are insecure too.

Dash Lord

Well, “John” he’s “free” and “exonerated ” and will try to “resume” his “life”.

Maybe you could, just this once, lay off the pedantic hairsplitting and recognize that he was done a serious wrong.

Phil Ford

Kudos to this publication for publishing a thorough article on the result for this young man. By and large, the press doesn’t bother with such things.

lovefelines

This problem has existed for ever. By today’s standards, I was raped a bunch of times in my 20s, since I was too drunk or too insecure to say “No” at the critical moment. Thankful that I eventually got the message and that a whole lot more young women are better informed and less insecure in their dealings with horny young men. In retrospect, I’m glad that I wasn’t responsible for some young idiot’s life being ruined.

lovefelines

If “factual” innocence doesn’t incorporate there being zero evidence to support the claim, I’d hope the DA would produce some evidence to prosecute again rather than leave the matter up in the air, as you suggest.

rusty

Which is manefstestly wrong and unjust, as illutrated here, especially if the accusation is permitted, as here, to be made annoymously. Permitting women to make these kinds of accusations in secret does not help women it infanilizes them in a way that would bring a smile to the lips of the most puritanical character out of the Scarlet Letter.

John Freeman

I think the only thing we really know here is that all parties agree the evidence is so insufficient to prove the charges that the judge expunged official record charges had been brought.

It does not follow that the accusation was either true or false except in the procedural sense that constrains the court.

rusty

The circumstances of this false accusation need to be investigated
and made public. Did this girl speak with any of the people at UC who are
currently making careers out of the asserted “rape epidemic”. Did
any of these helping professionals play any part in synthesizing her false
accusation or in coercing the police and prosecutors to go ahead with this
shameful sham? And in having bail set at $100,000.00? The public
has the right to know.

Geekspice

What an ugly situation all around. This young man will never escape this false accusation. It’s too bad the police and DA don’t investigate crimes BEFORE spalshing someone’s name all over the papers.

guest

Issues involving rape result in an odd inversion of political positions. Many conservatives believe that the accused are, almost by definition, guilty, and any effort to protect their rights are a waste of time. Perhaps not coincidentally, the accused are very likely to be minorities who are distrusted and feared by many conservatives. Switch the victims and perpetrators and many feminist’s arguments are remarkably similar to conservative arguments. Crimes perpetrated by a group who they are predisposed to distrust and fear. Of course, they would retort that the difference is that in one case the perpetrators are often members of an oppressed class, but in the other, they (men) are privileged. They would also argue that victimization of women is a far bigger problem than false accusations. Pretty good points. However, false accusations of rape are devastating. Maybe rare, but devastating none the less. The smartest thing for a young person (male or female) to do would probably be to avoid situations where young men and women are in a sexually charged environment in which lots of booze is consumed. Which is never going to happen, because young people want to drink and have sex. Duh.

I hate to sound old fashioned, but I think the best things we can do is to raise boys who have a sense of honor and respect for women and to raise girls who know better than to give mixed signals. I know, the later advice sounds sexist, because no women, ever, deserves to be raped. And I think they often give mixed signals because girls get incredibly mixed signals about how they are supposed to attract boys. But boys, most of whom are good people who would be horrified by the idea that they are potential rapists, are also 1) desperate to have sex and 2) pretty clueless about how to get it. Throw in a lot of booze and no adult supervision (and no, an 18 year old is not an adult) and you end up with a mess.

preferrous

Most plausible explanation yet.

Steve Gongos

Also, it’s insane that a person’s name can be published before they’re even convicted. Absolutely irresponsible journalism. The woman’s name should be published, too.

Steve Gongos

Oh, women never lie about being raped, right?

Chris J

My interpretation is that the couple had sex, the woman was drugged (though not by the fellow who has been exonerated), and she pointed the finger of rape at this fellow. Then, upon later consideration, said that the sex had been consensual and not forced.

Berkeley Resident

“Petty regret.” Interesting, haven’t read about that part of the story. You must have some inside knowledge that the rest of us don’t.

John Freeman

Sayng “out of petty regret?” says a lot (that is pretty ugly, in fact) about you and nothing about the case at hand. You are projecting.

Road Wolf

Wrong conclusion about the “police, lawyering, and DA’s office”, which the last is “lawyering” for the people. It is not necessarily a bad anything but the way justice is applied in a rape case. A horrible crime that at one time was against the victim to prove ergo, the name “Jane Doe” was applied to protect the victim’s identity, (mostly women). A higher profile case such as a UC student as an alleged perpetrator gets more media scrutiny than does the unknown person in the same community. The first problem is how to protect the victim from becoming a victim in this case and intoxication is part of it as is someone’s youth. In other cases, the rape is attached to another horrid crime such as a homicide or robbery. This one as many are not t he case. They are all victims of learning to live in a college community and while learning sometimes pushes the envelope too far. Maybe we need to look how we’re exposing the learning process and better educate and warn both parties of casts of their consequences when pushed too far? Why? Because this kind of problem is not going away by itself.

EarlyMorningCoffee

When people here write of “the victim”, are you speaking of the person wrongfully accused and convicted in the court of public opinion? Or is it the person that had no crime committed upon them, yet came dangerously close to ruining another persons life out of petty regret?

honorious

Seems pretty obvious this is a case of intoxicated, later-regretted sex. Sad ending for both parties involved.

Berkeley Resident

I wonder if the victim is unclear who did it and DNA ended up exonerating him. Declaring someone innocent is a step that often isn’t taken, even where there is insufficient evidence to charge a crime.

guest

Not to mention his future job prospects may suffer for the rest of his life, as his employers Google his name and find dozens of news stories online about him supposedly drugging and raping young women.

David

No question that rape is under-reported, and that many (most?) rapes do not result in criminal prosecution. At the same time, arresting and charging someone with a felony is a life-altering event that, at best, is very expensive for the accused and family. My guess is that posting bail and hiring defense counsel have set back the undergraduate (or his family) tens of thousands of dollars, even at this early stage of the case. What result when the accused and family do not have the resources to answer the DA’s charges? Mistakes happen, but arresting and charging someone who is “factually innocent” is an indication of bad police work, bad lawyering at the DA’s office, or both.

TheGipper

It is highly that he would attend a school where he has been essentially declared a rapist. Regardless of the truth people will always look at him differently. I have observed things happen like this before on college campuses and this is has been the overwhelming trend.

guest

As a result, this young man’s future at Cal is over.

Do you have any evidence of that?

guest

Sorry to tell you this, but they were replying to your question about whether she was incapacitated because she took the drug herself or was slipped a mickey. The replies pointed out that this is irrelevant to the question of whether she was raped. They simply point out this fact about the rape laws, and they do not call you an apologist for rape.

Tontinlo

This seems incorrect, wasn’t he already tried and convicted in the court if Berkeleyside? weird.

TheGipper

There seems to be a very reactionary, radical feminist movement on college campuses across America. It is clearly big enough to influence government and policy decisions. Unfortunately this movement seeks to subvert one of the basic tenets of the American criminal justice system: the rights of the accused. As a result, this young man’s future at Cal is over. Hopefully he is able to recoup his losses through some sort of lawsuit, and start fresh at another school.

guest

AND the accuser’s name will never be mentioned.

Makes this a very convenient way to ruin someone’s reputation without any risk.

angryyoungman

Wonderful. Maybe one-tenth of the people who read about the charges will read about the result. Meanwhile, this man has a black mark that will follow him via Google search for life.

How about doing your investigation BEFORE arresting and libeling someone, Leventis?